Transparent Polymer‐Ceramic Hybrid Antifouling Coating with Superior Mechanical Properties

Abstract

Antifouling coatings are often required to have both excellent fouling resistance and mechanical properties for their applications. This study reports a water‐borne antifouling coating consisting of an amine‐terminated hyperbranched polysiloxane and a fouling resistant epoxy‐zirconium particle, where the former is prepared using amine‐functionalized silanes, and the latter is prepared via the reaction of zirconium alkoxide with epoxy‐functionalized silanes and zwitterionic silanes. Such a hybrid coating is transparent (>99.5% transmittance) and exhibits a combination of polymeric and ceramic characteristics, namely, it has not only high hardness (7–9 H) and adhesion (≈3 MPa) to substrates but also good flexibility (≤10 mm bending diameter). The presence of the zwitterionic group allows the coating to have excellent oil repellency and fouling resistance. The effects of composition and structure on the mechanical properties and antifouling performance are investigated. This study aims to develop antifouling coatings to be used in foldable displays, optical sensors, and biomedical facilities.

Synthesis of a Stretchable Polyampholyte Hydrophilic Film with Compositional Gradient for Long‐Term Stable, Substrate‐Independent Fouling‐Resistant Coating

“…An organosilicon-based adhesion promoter layer with multiple vinyl functionalities, pV4D4, which adheres to arbitrary materials with high adhesion energy, was introduced to enhance the interfacial adhesion of the film to target substrates. [19][20][21] In addition, multiple vinyl groups in the pV4D4 can function as cross-linkable anchoring sites to graft fouling-resistant functionality onto polymer brushes, increasing mechanical durability. On top of the adhesion-promoting pV4D4 layer, a mixed-charged polyampholyte layer was developed to achieve exceptional fouling-resistance.…”

“…The inset schematics represent the procedures of pull-off strength measurement. Black, [21] green, [42] and purple [43] lines represent adhesion data of antifouling materials from published literature. e) An AFM image of a 100 nm thick pCD-grad-pV4D4 film on Si wafer (scale bar = 2 µm).…”

Multifunctional Hard Yet Flexible Coatings Fabricated Using a Universal Step‐by‐Step Strategy

“…[ 14 ] Recently, our group reported a hybrid antifouling coating consisting of an epoxy‐zirconium particle and an amine‐terminated hyperbranched polysiloxane. [ 15 ] Besides superior mechanical properties, the coating simultaneously provides oil repellency and anti‐microbial abilities, which are attributed to the zwitterionic silanes. Considering that zwitterionic polymers are highly polar and hydrophilic [ 16 ] and the properties of the coating can only be adjusted by redesigning the nanoclusters, it is necessary to develop a conveniently regulated strategy to meet the multi‐functionality requirements.…”

Bioinspired antifouling Fe-based amorphous coating via killing-resisting dual surface modifications

“…However, for the first approach, the uncontrollable release rate of biocides and the accumulation of the dead bacteria or proteins significantly reduces the antifouling efficiency 10 ; for the second approach, the poor mechanical robustness of the modified surfaces easily leads to the loss of the anti-fouling functions due to wear or impact 11 , 12 . In addition, the weak adhesion of polymer coatings to metallic substrates (typically < 3 MPa) 13 limits the durability of the coatings. Accordingly, numerous efforts have been devoted to explore alternatives to replace the polymer-based antifouling coatings.…”